Become the manager your design team needs

Insights for building mastery, autonomy, and purpose in direct reports

Illustration by Patricia Doria

I was employee 35, at a visual effects studio that eventually expanded to more than 450. At the peak of the studio’s growth, I managed four leads and a team of 28 artists. It was the first time I’d really considered what it meant for artists, at different levels in their careers, to be seen as making an impact. I was eventually recruited by Microsoft to join a new team working on HoloLens. Although I began my career there as an individual contributor (IC), I transitioned into management again a few years later to lead a team of designers working on Microsoft Edge. From that point, I’ve continued to manage designers, technical designers, and technical artists.

Management isn't the path I envisioned when I started my career, but I've spent a lot of time thinking about and working on being good at it. Over the years I've learned that management isn't telling people what they should do or controlling the process of their work, it's helping them evolve and find new ways to be successful. By helping people grow in their creative careers, good managers can build design teams that grow, thrive, and positively affect the product development process.

The real challenge of management: No one else is you

Management happened early in my career, and I didn't understand all it entailed, though I’ve come to realize a common pattern: A person who's had success through their own actions and output is put in charge of other people's output—with further and increased expectation of success. When someone is removed from their arena of success and asked to do something different than what made them successful, there's bound to be friction.

It's rare for someone to have learned in school what it means to be a good manager, or to have undergone training in the workplace. So, for most people, their first experience with management happens "on the job," on their first day. It’s why many of us fail at first. We’ve never been in the position before where we’re responsible for creating success through the actions of others. It also sets up a dichotomy: “How do I get other people to be successful like me when they're not?”

It can be challenging for new managers of creative teams to adjust to managing others because their past successes were based on their personal effort and skills. Some try to replicate and implement the processes and frameworks that contributed to their own success. This seems like a logical approach, because it comes with an expectation of “how” to do something, but every individual has their own sense of mastery, autonomy, and purpose. Our role as managers is to help provide what our teams need to do the best possible job... not teach them how to do it our way.

We had a saying in animation, “You have to make the movie you need to make.” and it often helped us get clarity on what we needed to do as individuals in a much larger machine. Sometimes in design, you’ll say three things to somebody that seem very informative but how that information is used will result in a very different solution than what you would have created yourself. That’s when managers need to dig in, ask questions, stay curious and learn how someone approached a problem to come up with the solution they did.

A few years back, I stumbled across a presentation by John Cline, then director of engineering at Blue Apron, where he talked about “managerial expectations”—not for your team, but for yourself. It was a simple and short presentation about how he worked, what was important to him, and the expectations he had for himself. As a manager I’ve adopted many of the ideas from that presentation. I revisit it from time to time with my team as a reminder of how I work and what I expect of myself so that I can help them understand how I set expectations for their work so they can begin to uncover approaches that will work for them.

The metronome approach: Finding the rhythm between micromanagement and taking a back seat

Part of being a good manager is guiding people who are already doing a great job. When ICs are seen as successful—described using terms like “high functioning” and “high performer”—they’re capable of everything from starting big projects, leading without authority, and inspiring others. The challenge is knowing how to help them when they're already doing a killer job. As managers we must remember that people can be brilliant and still feel themselves struggling, and we must do the work to figure out what they need and how to help them.

At one point in my career, I had a manager who supported me in my work but when it came time to help move my career forward, he struggled. We were both creative, fast thinkers, and good problem solvers and, since he saw me as an equal, he was never quite sure how to help me grow so I felt alone on that front. Everyone can use encouragement and steering (even small assurances can help people know they’re on the right path and have your support) and because it was hard for me to get that from him, I didn’t always have the feedback I needed.

There’s a metronome analogy I use when talking to people about feedback loops for managers and reports. If the rhythm is too fast, the manager ends up micromanaging (although “excessive supervision” is a much better way to explain what’s happening). The alternative is a rhythm that’s too slow and a manager ends up steering from the back seat and their report is left wandering a path on their own, with the occasional small nudge that will hopefully help them course correct. Neither creates an ideal space for the manager or the individual.

I’ve found that the ideal is different for each person you manage and it’s important to find a healthy feedback rhythm that works for both of you. Be clear with every person on your team about your expectations and needs and figure out what kind of feedback your report would like and how they’d like to receive it. Having open and clear conversations, with a dash of curiosity, is key. By getting good at listening and asking questions you’ll uncover where gaps exist, where you must work together to agree on a result, and how to get there—and you’ll learn how to help in ways that are meaningful to the individual.

Meeting the expectations of leadership while also meeting the expectations of your team

Every manager is accountable, meaning we must be able to answer questions about what our team has done or not done. Although I prefer to think of it as being responsible (we’re responsible for our teams, for the actions of our teams, and for the successes of our teams), every manager knows they’re on the hook for something. Each manager has their own processes and methods for handling the weight of that responsibility—but in the end they are indeed accountable for them.

I use goals. It’s an approach that works with both leaders and teams. Goals can cover everything from business, to design, to career development. The important thing when creating goals is making sure everyone understands and agrees with them. When we collectively understand what the goal is, we can create a picture of the outcome. The only expectations that are missed are the ones that aren't expressed. It sounds like a truism, but if what “done” looks like is understood between people, it overcomes a big challenge.

In Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, Brené Brown shares a concept she calls “paint me a picture, paint ‘done’ for me.” It involves each person describing a thorough vision (time, tasks, goals, consequences) of what a completed task will look like, how they’ve internalized the goals, the actions they would take, and what the result would be. Being able to form a concrete picture of a goal is a powerful tool for building alignment, especially as people work back-and-forth to create a shared understanding. When everyone agrees on the goals and outcomes of a task, the only piece left is how it will get done.

“How” is the place to focus as a manager to help your direct reports. It’s where your way of doing things can shed light on their way of doing things, and even though they differ you can both still achieve your goals—and you can both learn.

Advice for managing well

When I look back at how I’ve navigated the successes and the mistakes of management, there are some bits of advice I would give to people either just starting on the path or who have the desire to manage more thoughtfully.

Make sure you’re in it for the right reasons. If you're using management to be recognized, as a motion to help yourself or a team, or to direct others in the work you can’t do alone, you're not doing it for the right reasons. Managers guide people through their growth while honing our own skills and experiences so we can leverage them for coaching. Although it’s true that our team’s successes are also our successes, managers are recognized for what we help our teams do—and taking care of your people is key to being good at that. It can be unsettling when you first realize that management requires making personal, business, and professional commitments on behalf of your team.

Support an inclusive design practice. Not everyone is going to be a talented public speaker. Not everyone is going to be technical and creative at the same time. Not everyone is going to be good with color theory, accessibility, or have a thorough understanding of AI. Allow and support people to be good in their way as they develop their own design practice. As a manager, your goal should be to uncover what that means for each person and to find ways and opportunities to support them so they can be successful in their design practice and complete the work in front of them.

Learn from your direct reports. The manager-report relationship is a two-way street. Share your point of view, based on your different experiences and knowledge, but also recognize that you don’t know everything. To grow, managers must also learn from their people. When you don’t know, be open about it and ask for help. Being vulnerable will build trust and rapport—which will help when there are challenges you must tackle together.

Be flexible and find ways to adapt. Expect that there will be a different rhythm for each project at each different stage, and that the metronome will have a different cadence throughout the life of a project, even as you manage a person over time. Adapting and adjusting to situations is a cornerstone ability for designers and doesn’t stop once someone becomes a manager.

Be curious. It might sound cliché, but it’s true. A single well-considered question can answer a lot. As a manager you’ll be surprised how often the people you manage know what they need to do—they just might need help realizing it.

Leverage empathy. As a manager you must often interpret what people say and find ways to build alignment on goals or direction. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes to consider what’s motivating them, what pressures they may be under, or what’s going on in their life. By holding off on judgment and really trying to understand their situation, instead of jumping straight to solutions, you'll slow down, build stronger connections, and better support your direct reports.

Set context and telegraph your intentions. In a remote and highly hybrid team, managers must often communicate in text. As a result, simple things can get in the way of being an effective communicator. I’ve found that stepping back a bit, to ensure I’m being clear about what I want people to do and why I want them to do it, is key. Little things can trip people up as they read your words with their own internal voice and that’s where things can fall apart. In all communications, take the long route, and always be clear about your intentions.

Learn how to speak clearly about your team’s impact. In one organizational change my team and I were dropped into another group. Since most companies focus on the impact of the work, my new manager asked me in our first meeting to name the most and least impactful people on my team. I paused and asked a question of my own, “What actions and outcomes do you consider impactful?” It was an eyebrow-raising question, but by asking it, I was able to provide a strong position for each person on my team. As you start on any team, group, or organization, find out what “impact” means to your management chain—and, whenever possible, share your point of view. As a manager you will always be responsible for your team doing the best work possible. Having a good way to talk about its impact on the company’s customers, products, team, and team culture and your team’s individual growth, will help you and help them.

Provide feedback that’s useful and actionable. For designers, feedback can come in the form of reviews, critiques or assessments about our work and how we collaborate with others. During one of the times I was exploring how to ensure that the people on my team were getting actionable feedback, I came across a book by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, titled Thanks for the Feedback. In it, they conclude that when people ask for feedback, they’re looking for one of three forms: appreciation, evaluation, or coaching. As a manager, first take the time to consider what type of feedback people are looking for, then be prompt (don’t let too much time pass between giving feedback and the moment you had an observation or insight you want to share), be specific when summarizing behavior and outcomes, and keep your feedback actionable. Even if the feedback is just praise (“You did a great job!”) share insights about what made it good and ideas for improving it further. The classic creative ideation method, “What if we explored...?” can help managers and reports ideate together, improve the work, and create a shared understanding and rapport.

Understand the difference between values and beliefs. Values can help large groups of people embody actions or behaviors in how they work, how they interact with other people, and how they conduct the business of design. (“Create the future” is an Adobe value and we’re all encouraged to bring that spirit into our work.) Beliefs, on the other hand, are personal “truths” that can make it difficult for people to shift their perspective or see possibility. A belief like “I’m the only person who can do this job” can easily lead to burnout and an inability to delegate. As a manager, work to learn the hard beliefs and values of each person on your team. Good, open conversations can help uncover these and help you start to build a team language based on what matters to the group and the individuals.
Coach, mentor, and manager. A coach focuses on improving a specific skill or achieving a goal, as a person develops and grows in their career. A mentor provides guidance, based on their personal experience, sharing insights on how to work through situations or processes. A manager leads and organizes tasks, guiding team members and managing resources to carry out goals. Being a good manager requires doing all three well, juggling each hat as needed to help the people on your team grow as individuals and professionals.

I’m thankful for all the managers and direct reports, both inside and outside of Adobe, who’ve influenced my management journey and hope that anyone who’s read this far has found a useful nugget of information. One last bit of advice to managers: There will always be things that no one else realizes you do for them (thank you, and keep going, those things matter). And, for individual contributors: Learn as much as you can from the managers in your career because you just might end up being one.